Milwaukee County

The city's chief engineer says design consultants have been able to minimize the impact relocating utility lines would have on a proposed Milwaukee streetcar project.

In an affidavit filed with the Public Service Commission this week, city engineer Jeff Polenske says consultants have been able to achieve a 90% reduction in potential conflicts with We Energies' steam distribution facilities, a 75% reduction in conflicts with the utility's gas mains and a 30% reduction in conflicts with the utility's electric conduit package.

Polenske added that the city's proposed split-route alignment alternative on Milwaukee St. and Broadway "avoids all impacts to AT&T's regional communications on Broadway, significantly reducing what AT&T previously estimated to be impacts of approximately $10 million."

Last year, utilities had estimated it could cost more than $55 million to move their lines out of the way of the modern streetcar's proposed downtown route.

Cathy Schulze, a We Energies spokeswoman, said city officials had not given the utility any new plans.

"We continue to work cooperatively with the city to find route options to lower relocation costs while protecting vital utility services in downtown Milwaukee," Schulze said. "Until further design work is complete, we will not have revised estimates on utility relocation costs."

The PSC has been asked to decide the question of whether the city or the utilities must bear the cost of relocating utility lines and other infrastructure.

Last week, the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee approved a measure that would bar utility ratepayers from having to bear any costs for a proposed streetcar in the city. The move was intended to kill the streetcar, though Mayor Tom Barrett said last week that the city and its consultants would continue working on the project.

The city has allocated $64.6 million - funded by $54.9 million in federal aid and $9.7 million from a tax incremental financing district - to pay for construction of a modern streetcar line from the lower east side to the Milwaukee Intermodal Station. The city hopes to begin construction next year, with the first cars running in 2016.

In a memo to the state Department of Administration, Cynthia Smith, the PSC's chief legal counsel, said Milwaukee has argued that even if the PSC acts to force the city to pay for utility relocation costs, the city still has the right to go to court. Opponents of the streetcar have challenged that.

In reference to the vote taken in Joint Finance, Smith added that, while that could render the PSC case moot, "it may not dispose of the dispute should the city pursue its stated legal remedies in court."

Jodie Tabak, Barrett's spokeswoman, said the city is monitoring the legislation.